-----how many hours the activity happened for. I have laid out the cost we have inferred to it. I have laid out very, very clearly the money I understand was made available to those individuals. It is all laid out in my response.

In terms of dealing with this issue as we move forward, I want to make clear that a recusal is now under way. I will be answering questions in the House tomorrow on behalf of the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform. The recusal with regard to the Minister, Deputy Michael McGrath, will be taking effect shortly.

I entirely reject the premise of the Deputy's question that we are doing something that is about trying to appease the insurance sector. That is completely wrong. We brought forward a timed amendment to the Bill and we explained why in the Seanad. The first reason was because from the engagement my Department had with those who are involved in this area, in many cases, the presumption of full recovery from cancer means that person, or anybody who has suffered from the condition of cancer, is entitled to the same he…

I thank the Deputy for raising this matter. As he acknowledged, the Government is limited in its interventions and response to this matter because these mortgages are independently regulated by the Central Bank. Anybody whose loan book was sold to an organisation like Pepper Finance has the same consumer protection as any other loan holder. I will raise the concerns the Deputy has shared with the Central Bank and see if a response is possible from our regulator to the matter.

I move: That Revised Estimates for the Public Services for the year ending 31st December, 2023, be presented to the Dáil and circulated to members, pursuant to Standing Orders 95(1)(a) and 215.

I thank the Senators for raising this issue through recommendation No. 1. I am not in a position to accept the recommendation because there are many other ways in which the potential for a wealth tax to raise additional revenue for the State can be evaluated over the course of the year. I do not believe it is appropriate, in the context of a Finance Bill, to incorporate a commitment to prepare a report because a Finance Bill is all about how we bring stability and certainty to the tax code in the time ahead. Indica…

I thank the Senator for raising a number of important matters. In our last debate on this general issue, I covered some of the broader matters she has raised so I am going to confine my comments to the very important points she made regarding gender equality with regard to private pension tax relief and access to pensions. I acknowledge that there are very specific gender-related issues around pensions that cover a wide range of very important matters. These include access to a State pension and the size of private…

I thank Senator Higgins for the different issues that she has raised. It is important to know the banks we are referring to and the role that they play within our economy. I am as conscious as everybody else in this House of the cost and the considerable harm that was done to our economy and our country some years ago as a result of the behaviour of our banks. However, we need those same banks to provide new lending and investment to Irish small and medium-sized enterprises. This will allow the latter to employ peo…

I did not say that.

I have three points to make. First, the effect of what the Senator is proposing would mean having a different taxation regime for banks from what applies in the rest of the economy. That would be the effect. Second, I did not say the banks that are not subject to a pay cap do not employ people within our economy. I said they employ fewer people than Bank of Ireland, AIB and Permanent TSB. Third, I would never suggest that the fact our banks have to lend within our economy and we rely upon them to invest in funding …

The short answer to the Senator's question is that this issue is currently under debate within the EU. The Commission has proposed a new energy taxation directive and, as part of that, a discussion is under way on whether the tax exemptions for aviation and maritime fuel should be removed. As a participant in this debate, as a representative of the Government of a country with an economy that relies heavily on air and maritime access, I have significant concerns about the impact on access to our island economy if w…

I thank the Senators for the recommendations they have tabled. The data centres are associated with large companies, as Senators said, which are also large employers in Ireland. The retention of data centres within our country is a very important ingredient of how we can keep jobs within our country, especially in the context of changes happening in corporate taxation in the time ahead, when it will be even more important to have other sources of attraction for large employers to associate large amounts of investme…

If the Cathaoirleach will accommodate it, I ask that there be a brief suspension to allow me to attend a vote in the Dáil.

I will vote confidence in the Minister, Deputy Darragh O'Brien, this evening, and not just because of his incredible dedication to his role, his resilience, and the effort he puts into making a difference to all that this Government wants to do better. I will vote confidence in him not just because of those qualities, which I see regularly. I will vote confidence in him because of the difference I see him make, including in my constituency and my part of Dublin. A list is not the most attractive part of any speech,…

I am only getting going. Let me get into some of the other homes being delivered. Let me talk about the homes that are in planning at the moment: 124 homes on Constitution Hill-----

-----and 92 homes in Matt Talbot Court. Let me talk about the work our approved housing bodies are doing: Ellis Court, 22 homes; Connaught Street, 20 homes; Railway Street, 47 homes; North Great Charles Street, 52 homes; and Halston Street, 12 homes. For every home I have listed this Government wants to see more built and is determined to make a difference, but those are homes that are being built, are in the planning process or are funded and will happen in the lifetime of this Government because of Housing for Al…

Let me tell the House just how hollow the Sinn Féin claims are this evening. Its Front Bench spokesperson, Deputy Ó Broin, cannot even bother to be here for the debate this evening. Where are the Sinn Féin Deputies?

Is that how little confidence Sinn Féin has in its own policies that its own spokesperson will not be here this evening to make the claim for it?

I understand why they will not be here.

It is because the Sinn Féin answer to every difficulty this Government knows we face, to everything we need to make a difference to, is that we need to spend more and we need to do more. I listened very attentively to the speeches from Deputy McDonald and the housing spokesperson, when he graced us with his presence. What they said was that Sinn Féin would build more homes with more money. Is that all it has to offer?